10 MORE Things Wedding Photographers Want You to Know

So, in 2014 I wrote a blog. In 2016 I moved it over to this here blog and reposted it.Now I’m tweaking it for the newly engaged out there….and the new wedding industry.

One thing we can count on: this industry is CONSTANTLY in flux. When I first started, yellow-stained everything was REALLY in vogue (remember that? Pee-pictures. Yeah….not our high point artistically) and I could book up 32 weddings easy-peasy.

The times….oh, they are a changin’. You ain’t kidding, Bob.

So here’s 10 More Things. Add ‘em to the list.

(And if you want to check out the original blog post, hop over HERE: http://www.typeaimages.com/blog/2016/5/25/25-things-wedding-photographers-wish-you-knew-wisconsin-wedding-photographer)

We WANT You to Do Your ResearchHere’s the thing, unless we’ve been sticking our heads in the sand for the last 5 or so years, we know how saturated the market is. According to statistics (thank you SLR Lounge) there are roughly 100,000 wedding photographers in the US. Hell, over 1000 in the Chicagoland area ALONE. That’s absolutely INSANE.

I mean, think of how we must feel? That’s a crap-load of competition.So, we don’t want you thinking we are all one-in-the-same. A lot of us work VERY hard to differentiate ourselves. We want you to notice, to compare, and to make our effort to stand out worth it.

We Want You to Let Someone Else Worry About It There is nothing more frustrating than a really wound up bride or groom that you can’t calm down. Especially if it’s over something pretty inconsequential that just will not MATTER in the long run. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a billion times: once the day is set into motion, you ain’t stoppin’ that train.

RELAX……and let someone else handle it.

We Want You to Get Ready Someplace CLEANWe TOTALLY get the whole “church basement daycare” room that apparently passes as a Bridal Room on Saturdays. I’ve shot in PLENTY of rooms where clowns stared back at me from the concrete walls. Not ideal. But, dammit, I’m a professional.HOWEVER, you can do your part by making the area CLEAN….keep your stuff in one area and then I won’t have to move a bunch of stuff or shoot around it. I’ll do my part by finding the best, neutral area for getting ready…..or move you to another spot.

4. We Want You to Notice that Personality TOTALLY Matters When you’re choosing a plumber, or an electrician, or….you know…whatever…some other service provider you DON’T have to spend a whole day with, personality may not matter much. I mean, my auto guy may be gruff and rough and tumble but he changes oil like a champ. But, when it comes to your wedding photographer, it TOTALLY matters if they’re an asshole. From first meeting, to the day of, to how they interact with you afterwards. Luckily, the days of the crabby old wedding photographer with the photo vest, flash bracket, and a chip on his shoulder are coming to a bitter end…..and the up-and-coming generation understands that a large part of their job is to be LIKABLE. (I’m SO gonna get it for calling out the flash bracket users…lol) So, make sure you at least speak with your potential photographer on the phone (even though some of them may hate the phone….I’ll live)….and see if your personalities jive well. You don’t want to spend all day with some crab-ass that is going to snap at people and be all sulky.

5. We Want You to Stop Forcing Poses Look, I get the appeal of a big old list of Pinterest poses. I like to look at a client’s Pinterest list. I even ASK for it at our meetings. Nothing else really gives me AS good of a peek into their dream for their big day. However, recreating exact poses from “popular pins” is difficult. For one, it’s not natural. AT ALL. Two, it may not look exactly like your example and then we run the risk of disappointing you. Three, a lot of those poses are outdated and have been done a BAZILLION times and that really takes away from YOUR story.

That being said, if your life isn’t going to be complete without a jumping shot….Imma let you do the jumping shot because I’m not an ogre. You do you.

6. We Want You to Unplug Your Wedding We may say we don’t care. Maybe. But, having everyone and their Uncle Bob with their devices out at a ceremony is SO distracting. It looks bad…sometimes it SOUNDS bad (some people haven’t figured out how to turn the sound down on their phones….I’m looking at YOU, Aunt Barb)……and in pictures it’s always a major eyesore. You invited these folks because you want them to WITNESS your marriage, not stare at their phones. I could get into a whole rant about people not being able to put their phones away for just a moment and BE, but I won’t….. So maybe consider unplugging your ceremony, at the very least. Put a notice in the program, a sign at the aisle, or have your officiant remind folks to turn off their phones and just BE in the moment. Trust me….I gotcha.

7. We Want You to Understand that Candid Moments are Just That Try as you might, you CAN. NOT. manufacture beautiful, candid moments. So, when someone hands me a Pinterest list full of dads crying at the sight of their daughters or grooms losing their shit at the altar…..I start to worry….that is not your story, I can’t MAKE that happen. Some grooms are stoic….some dads are just not criers…..some moments are just not going to happen as wonderful as it may be. What I CAN guarantee you is I will spend the day seeking out that story. YOUR story. Because that’s my job. And your story is beautiful. AS beautiful as those Pins.

8. We Worry About Pricing Seriously, if you were to take a peek into our super-secret-photo-group-boards, you’d see a whole lot of questions about PRICING. We worry. We do. For a lot of us, this is our livelihood and we know that people are on a budget and price is a huge consideration when booking. We are also reading a butt-load of blogs that tell us to “charge what we are worth”….we are competing with a ton of photographers right in our same price range….we are concerned about reaching the “right” clients. It’s HARD….especially when all most of us want to do is WORK. So, we want you to know we POUR over the numbers (at least most of us do)….in hopes of finding that good equilibrium between charging what our work is worth and being accessible for modern couples.

9. Trust Us if We Come Up With Some Super Whack Idea Super whack ideas often result in some of my favorite images. For example, for the picture below I suggested we pop into the cruddy little laundromat that was NEXT to the Country Club where the couple was getting married. The result? Pretty bad ass, if I do say so myself. Thankfully, the couple TOTALLY rolled with it. We are wedding photographers, at the end of the day, because many of us are creatives. Enter super whack ideas.

10. We Want You to Print Your Pictures I still have a old, gritty copy of my grandparent’s wedding portrait. It’s torn to pieces and someone, probably my grandfather, in the 70s or something tried to piece it back together with tape…which is all yellowed and gross now. But, it’s THERE. My grandparents. Two of the people I loved most in the world….who are now gone. In 30, 40, 50 years…what will be your legacy? A picture on an obsolete device? Yes, I am going to give you your digitals. That’s what I do. But I urge you to get prints, get a beautiful, large canvas, get an album…..create an heirloom for those who come after you.

It’s engagement season, so hopefully this list will help folks who are wading into the super muddy waters of wedding planning. I know when I set out to book a wedding photographer I was CLUELESS.

It’s my hope that this helps and I welcome any comments, questions, and especially shares!

If you’d like to talk to Type A about your wedding coverage, fill out the contact form and let’s get to talkin’

Type A Images covers weddings and senior portrait photography in Wisconsin, Illinois and Beyond! Type A often photographs weddings in: Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Janesville, Beloit, the Northwoods of Wisconsin, and is available for travel.